Local 983 Loses CSA in
Car Accident

Local 983 regrets to inform the membership of the death of our member Rhonda Coaxum, a year-round CSA who was involved in a tragic car accident Feb. 25, on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Rhonda was just 33 years old and the mother of two children, a son and a daughter. She also had custody of a nephew. Upon being notified of the accident, Local 983 was in touch with DC 37’s PSU to arrange for counseling services at Mullaly Park in the Bronx for members who knew and worked with Rhonda. “We are deeply saddened by this loss and the tragic consequences this will have on her children and family,” said President Joe Puleo.

More 2022 News

Decmber 7, 2022
Local 983 and PlayFair rallied on the steps of City Hall on Dec. 7 for capital reform. The union supports legislation introduced by Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Chair of the Parks Committee, that would reduce project durations by 25%. This is a critical first step toward citywide reform. President Joe Puleo addressed the crowd by saying “we need more Parks workers. We need the manpower, and we need our men and women to get out there every day and do what they do best. The Parks Department is the largest landowner in the city of New York but it only gets a fraction of 1% of the budget. All we’re asking for is 1%.”

The 2022 New York State Budget Bill was signed into law by Governor Hochul on April 9, 2022. Within Chapter 56 of this bill, three parts (Part HH, Part SS and Part TT) amend NYS Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL), and impact certain NYCERS members and retirees.  Read More >>

October 17, 2022 - afscme.org
New York City’s years-long effort to shift retired city workers to a cost-cutting health care plan was dealt a major blow Monday when the insurer in charge of running the plan announced that it is withdrawing from the deal.

The plan — which the city and municipal unions hoped would save $600 million a year in health care costs — would have been run by the Retiree Health Alliance, a partnership between health insurance companies Elevance Health, previously known as Anthem, and Empire BlueCross BlueShield. Read More >>

July 1, 2022 - laborpress.org
The first person that Victoria Cooley, 34, a seasonal aid with the New York City Parks Department, called when she was told this week that June 30 was her last day was Joe Puleo, president of DC 37’s Local 983, which represents her and several thousand blue collar as well as skilled trades workers that work for the city.

During a phone interview, Puleo told LaborPress Cooley was one of 200 entry level workers that were slated to be terminated at the end of the fiscal year before July 1. They had originally been hired as part of Mayor de Blasio New Deal-inspired City Cleanup Corp that was funded with American Rescue Plan funds from Washington that were temporary. Read More >>

Aug 6, 2022 - nypost.com
More than one-third of people riding motorized two-wheelers on the Big Apple’s protected bike lanes and greenways speed dangerously, an analysis by The Post found. Although the city last week revved up its crackdown on dangerous driving by operating speed cameras round the clock, bike lanes remain severe safety hazards flooded with scofflaws on e-bikes, mopeds and motorcycles that constantly disobey the 25-mph speed limit. Read More >>

July 19, 2022 - thecity.nyc
New York City’s years-long effort to shift retired city workers to a cost-cutting health care plan was dealt a major blow Monday when the insurer in charge of running the plan announced that it is withdrawing from the deal.

The plan — which the city and municipal unions hoped would save $600 million a year in health care costs — would have been run by the Retiree Health Alliance, a partnership between health insurance companies Elevance Health, previously known as Anthem, and Empire BlueCross BlueShield. Read More >>

July 12, 2022 - laborpress.org
A 2003 EPA Inspector General report held the EPA accountable for mischaracterizing the air quality in lower Manhattan as "safe to breathe." A growing coalition of unions and survivors say it's time for the City of New York to come clean with what then Mayor Rudy Giuliani knew and when he knew it about the toxic air that has killed thousands and sickened tens of thousands. Read More >>

June 27, 2022 - nytimes.com
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is calling for a House investigation into whether two Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh, who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade should be impeached for lying at their confirmation hearings about their views of the landmark abortion-rights case. Read More >>

June 24, 2022 - npr.org
In a historic and far-reaching decision, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion that's been upheld for 50 years no longer exists. Read More >>

June 27, 2022 - gothamist.com
New York City’s law extending voting rights in municipal elections to noncitizens who are legally allowed to live, work and go to school in the five boroughs violates the New York State Constitution, according to a ruling issued by Justice Ralph Porzio in Richmond County State Supreme Court on Monday. Read More >>

June 23, 2022 - scotusblog.com
The Supreme Court of the United States struck down a New York handgun-licensing law on June 23, 2022, that required New Yorkers who want to carry a handgun in public to show a special need to defend themselves. The 6-3 ruling is the court’s first significant decision on gun rights in more than a decade. In a far-reaching ruling, the court made clear that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right “to keep and bear arms” protects a broad right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense. Read More >>

June 15, 2022 - www1.nyc.gov
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the appointment of Keith Howard as commissioner of the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). At DYCD, Howard — who has nearly 30 years of public service — will bring operational management expertise and a history of improving connections between community-based organizations and young adults. Howard also has a breadth of experience focused on community-driven programs to advance safer, healthier environments for young people. As a former board member of SCAN-Harbor, one of the largest youth service providers in Harlem, East Harlem, and the South Bronx, Howard provided oversight on organizational policy, budget, and program activities to after-school programs, early childhood education, family and social services, workforce development, youth education, and violence prevention. Read More >>

April 28, 2022 - Gothamist.com
Mayor Eric Adams is pulling back on his commitment to dedicate 1% of the city’s budget to public parks – instead offering New Yorkers a “down payment” that covers a fraction of the promised funding.

In a speech likening his priorities to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, Adams unveiled the nearly $100 billion operating budget on Tuesday, with close to $600 million ear-marked for city parks. The investment marks a slight increase from his previous proposal, while still falling far short of the pledge Adams made on the campaign trail to dedicate 1% of the budget – or roughly $1 billion – to the city’s sprawling network of parks.

The mayor seemed to acknowledge as much on Tuesday, describing his park allocation as a “significant down payment towards our ultimate commitment of 1% for parks.”

A spokesperson declined to comment on what prompted the backtrack. Read More >> 

May 3, 2022 - cityandstateny.com
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she will appoint Rep. Antonio Delgado to fill out the rest of Brian Benjamin's term as lieutenant governor. That will leave his upstate swing seat open at a time Democrats are desperate to hold onto the House, and with district lines in limbo in the state. Delgado will also be tapped to replace Benjamin on the primary ballot as he runs to win a full term as the state’s number two. Read More >>

May 16, 2022 - spectrumlocalnews.com
The court-appointed special master tasked with drawing New York's new congressional and state Senate maps released a preliminary draft of the new congressional boundaries Monday the state will have for the next decade.

Carnegie Mellon University Fellow Jonathan Cervas as special master drew lines for the state's 26 House seats, with 15 leaning Democratic, three leaning Republican and eight falling in the 45-55% competitive range. Read More >>

As you have recently seen, many Unions, along with many residents, are greatly troubled by what appears to be a stark double standard between athletes/performers, on the one hand, and public employees, on the other, regarding continuation of the vaccine mandates. While a number of Unions had challenged the vaccine mandates as intrusive and unneeded in light of testing options, it was one thing to abide when the mandate was applied uniformly but it is another to treat public employees in a less favorable, discriminatory manner. This is all the more disturbing when one considers that these workers, without fanfare or glory, came to their jobs each day facing the perils of COVID-19 in person during the worst of the pandemic to provide services to the residents of this great City. That the Nets or Mets might be at some disadvantage in having roster limitations hardly seems to have greater public import than in the loss of livelihood to hard-working New Yorkers who are the backbone of this City. Moreover, while the City has an understandable interest in the public health, the City has in recent weeks moved towards a return to normalcy, jettisoning much of the vaccine limitations in the private sector. In light of these developments, we ask, on behalf of the NYC Municipal Labor Committee, that the City meet with us to address issues regarding the groups of public employees who were summarily terminated or who went on unpaid leave for being unvaccinated and have a right to return. Fairness requires that this move towards normalcy also apply to the people who have served the City. Just as the City reached out to the MLC and the Unions for their cooperation and support in keeping the City going and fighting back the pandemic, we now look to you, as restrictions are being rolled back, to work with us to ease the burden on public employees. We ask to meet across the table and discuss pathways for all affected employees to return to work and continue to serve the City and its residents. 

In response to NYC Mayor Eric Adams exempting the city’s athletes and performers from the Big Apple’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate following weeks of pressure after it kept Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving from playing in home games — and was expected to block some baseball players from taking the field next month, the Municipal Labor Committee issued the following statement:

"Mayor Adams’ decision to eliminate a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for those in professional sports and the entertainment industry but maintain the requirement for municipal employees discriminates against the more than 1,400 municipal workers who were terminated for not being vaccinated. There should not be a re-entry system for the elite and no system for the City workers who risked their health to provide essential services over the last two years. I have requested that the City work with the MLC to design a fair-to-all re-entry system."

May 13, 2022 - ny1.com
Last summer, the city’s parks were flush with maintenance crews as New Yorkers streamed into green spaces after a long pandemic winter.

The parks department was able to hire about 3,500 workers, their salaries paid with a one-time injection of federal COVID-19 relief funds, to pick up litter and protect greenery amid another spring awakening as part of the City Cleanup Corps program. Read More >>

May 24, 2022 - nbcnewyork.com
Congressional and state seats have changed. Before this summer’s primary elections, find out how your old districts stack up with your new ones. Read More & Enter Your Address to See if You've Been Redistricted >>

Local 983 is participating in the Parks Play Fair Rally on Tuesday, March 22 at 9 a.m. at City Hall and is asking members to join in solidarity.

DC 37, the Play Fair Coalition, NYC Council Parks Chair Shekar Krishnan and hundreds of advocates will join the first for jobs and funding for New York City parks. It's time to hold government leaders accountable and protect NYC Parks' funding by demanding that 1% of the City budget be allocated for Parks.

"We demand that NYC Parks Department jobs that belong to our members such as PEP Officers and Urban Park Rangers, be baselined and included in the annual budget for the Parks Department," said Local 983 President Joe Puleo. "We are asking all our members, especially those in Park, to come out and show support at this rally."

We must stop the $60 million cut in Mayor Eric Adams' preliminary budget.

If you cannot attend the rally, be sure to watch the virtual NYC Council Parks Virtual Budget Hearing on March 22 from 10 a.m. - Noon. The more members who watch, the stronger our Local 983 presence will be. You can view the hearing by going to https://council.nyc.gov/livestream/ and clicking Virtual Room 2.

The City of New York on Friday, March 5, 2022, filed an appeal of Justice Frank’s ruling that allowed the Medicare Advantage Plus Plan to go forward, but required the City to provide Senior Care without any cost to retirees. Given the uncertainty caused by the Court’s ruling, the decision has been made that the Medicare Advantage Plus Plan will not commence on April 1, 2022. All retirees will remain in their current plans under current circumstances for the time being.

Attorneys for the City, MLC and Alliance are considering the next steps to be taken.

The City Office of Labor Relations has posted the following notice on its website: “The NYC Medicare Advantage Plus Plan is not being implemented on April 1, 2022. Retirees do not need to opt out of the Medicare Advantage Program in order to remain in Senior Care or their current plan on April 1. All retirees will remain in their current plans until further notice. We will post updates for retirees as we have more information. For additional information, you can call the special Alliance call center at 1-833-325-1190, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently appointed two officials to carry out his vision for a more equitable parks system where all New Yorkers can enjoy the physical, mental, and emotional benefits that open space provides. The Department of Parks & Recreation will be overseen by Commissioner Susan Donoghue. Read More >>

January 8, 2022

Prosecutors plan to slap criminal hate-crime charges against an aspiring model who allegedly screamed the N-word at black city Parks officers – while pronouncing his Constitutional “right to be racist,” The Post has learned. Read More >> 

January 01, 2022

An aspiring model from Staten Island went on an ugly racist rant this week, spitting and screaming the N-word at black city Parks peace officers — all while preaching about his Constitutional “right to be racist,” authorities said. Read More>>

Local 983 is participating in the Parks Play Fair Rally on Tuesday, March 22 at 9 a.m. at City Hall and is asking members to join in solidarity.

DC 37, the Play Fair Coalition, NYC Council Parks Chair Shekar Krishnan and hundreds of advocates will join the first for jobs and funding for New York City parks. It's time to hold government leaders accountable and protect NYC Parks' funding by demanding that 1% of the City budget be allocated for Parks.

"We demand that NYC Parks Department jobs that belong to our members such as PEP Officers and Urban Park Rangers, be baselined and included in the annual budget for the Parks Department," said Local 983 President Joe Puleo. "We are asking all our members, especially those in Park, to come out and show support at this rally."

We must stop the $60 million cut in Mayor Eric Adams' preliminary budget.

If you cannot attend the rally, be sure to watch the virtual NYC Council Parks Virtual Budget Hearing on March 22 from 10 a.m. - Noon. The more members who watch, the stronger our Local 983 presence will be. You can view the hearing by going to https://council.nyc.gov/livestream/ and clicking Virtual Room 2.

President Joe Puleo and First Vice President Marvin Robbins met with NYPD Deputy Inspector Richard P. Avignone for the traffic division and Traffic Division Franklyn Sepulveda to talk about a process for handling worksite issues. It was decided that the NYPD will be implementing monthly meetings with Local 983, Shop Stewards, and Traffic Managers to discuss problems before they become grievances and find a solution before the Union puts stories into the media. “The main objective is to make sure our members have the safest work environment possible and if these monthly meetings address the problems at hand, then we are good with not releasing stories to the public,” Robbins said. “The meeting was positive and productive.”

District Council 37 

AFSCME, AFL-CIO

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